Watch Aston Villa fans shamefully throw coins at Troy Deeney before Tyrone Mings wraps up crucial win over Watford
TYRONE MINGS left it late – but it was worth every bead of sweat shed by the bucket-load by Aston Villa’s army of grateful fans!
Villa’s England defender provided the crucial flick to divert Ezri Konsa’s ferocious shot beyond Ben Foster FIVE minutes into four minutes of stoppage time to spark utter mayhem in front of the Holte End.
Mings’ final touch – invisible to many Villa fans at first – was enough to see Villla come back from the dead after Troy Deeney’s first half header seemed set to bag Watford all three points for so long.
Deeney had coins hurled at him from the Holte End as he celebrated scoring his SIXTH goal in his last four games against Villa.
But fortunately for Villa boss Dean Smith, he was bang on the money when he sent on Douglas Luiz for Danny Drinkwater midway through the second half – because the Brazilian midfielder took just 11 minutes to cash in and haul Villa level.
Then Mings grabbed the vital goal which saw Villa leap-frog Watford to move out of the relegation zone.
Villa were unable to snip through the red tape they needed to lose to gain new £8.5million Tanzanian striker Mbwana Samatta the international clearance he required to make his debut.
So, for the fourth game on the spin, Dean Smith called on Anwar El Ghazi to spearhead his striker-lite attack …. and probably crossed his fingers in a quiet moment.
The Dutchman’s goal against Manchester City nine days ago – in Villa’s last home game – would usually have come as a massive boost to the 24-year-old’s confidence.
But as it came in front of long-deserted stands, deep in stoppage time with his side already six goals down, it was hardly one he’ll tell the grandchildren about.
Meanwhile, at the other end of the park Watford were able to put their trust in Troy Deeney, a trusted striker who has been there, seen it, done it at this level and has the XXL shirt to prove it!
How Smith must have wished he could have swapped strikers and borrowed the 31-year-old he had helped in his formative years as a young pro at Walsall.
But the Birmingham City tattoo on Deeney’s calf and love of the Blues has always made that reunion a non-starter with Villa.
Jack Grealish once revealed that when he was a kid he used to dream about scoring for his boyhood heroes – then hurling himself into his garden hedge and pretending he was crowd-surfing in the Holte End.
Deeney probably had a similar dream as a youngster, of scoring in front of the same Holte End – then cupping his hands behind his ears to taunt the Villa fans massed in front of him!
Last night the big fella was living the dream again as he bagged his SIXTH goal in his last four meetings with the ‘enemy.’
Not content with a double at Vicarage Road the last time the teams met, Deeney sensed this was a night when he could add to his tally.
It took the Watford captain 38 minutes to turn his dream into Villa’s worst nightmare as he produced the one real bit of quality in a dour, nerve-ridden first half.
Gerrard Deulofeu worked a 1-2 with Doucoure and when the Spaniard crossed, Deeney slipped between Guilbert and Konsa to power his header beyond Pepe Reina.
Villa could yet face an FA charge for the actions of a few idiots who decided to lob some dosh Deeney’s way.
However we shouldn’t take anything away from Villa’s remarkable comeback.
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Brazilian Douglas Luiz pulled them level after 68 minutes when Foster could only parry out Matt targett’s shot and Luiz lashed the rebound high into the roof of the Watford net.
In a dramtic finale Pepe Reina launched a free kick deep into the Watford box whiuch Kourtney Hause nodded down.
Mings failed to connect with his first attempt and the ball dropped to Konsa who smashed in a shot off Deeney to seal this incredible victory.
